fwoanfandomcom-20200216-history
Chamber of Manufacturers
For All Nails # 11: Chamber of Manufacturers by Noel Maurer ---- :Mexico City, Capital District, USM :18 June 1971 The dinner wasn't really that important. Typical Chamber of Manufacturers thing. But Bob Contreras planned on running for president of the Chamber in a few months, so when they asked to him to be the after-dinner speaker he really couldn't say no. Anyway, it gave him an opportunity to publicly air some ideas he'd been thinking about, ideas that he thought would help him cinch the Chamber election. Even if they didn't, they needed to be said. The dólar had just been devalued again, to 12 per CNA pound. The black market rate was even worse: around 16 per pound. Times were hard and getting harder, and something needed to be done. So there were the requisite jokes, the expected fun poked at himself and his friends around the table. After a few minutes, he got the meat of his speech. He'd given it before, but never to quite so many people at once. "My company makes capital goods. We make the goods that let other companies make the goods that the folks out there want to buy. In other words, I can't explain to my son what it is we make, and he's got a Ph.D." Laughter. "Alright, that's not true. We make metal tubes. Not particularly sexy, but lots of companies buy metal tubes. Don't ask me why." More chuckles. This was an easy crowd, and they liked Bob. He could probably stand here and just say "Hippopotamus" and get the same reaction. "Now y'all know that business isn't good, especially in the capital goods industry. Nobody's investing, but we keep producing. Costs keep rising faster than prices, and we're all getting squeezed." He looked around at the table. Nods all around. "The problem, as I see it, is oversupply. But not by us! No such thing as oversupply at my company. We can't make money making something, we stop making it." He paused. "Unfortunately, most of the capital goods industry's production, at least in oil-related equipment, comes from several large government-owned companies. These companies are losing money hand over fist, but they stay in business. Why? Because nobody owns them. Sure, we say that the federal government 'owns' them, but that's not really true. The federal government is not -- ¡gracias a Díos! -- concerned with turning a profit. No, our government is concerned about the welfare and defense of the Mexican people, not the saldo on a balance sheet." Contreras could tell that he had the audience's attention. Many of the men in the room were nodding. All of them had faced competition from state-owned behemoths for all their professional lives. Most of them knew that the behemoths lost money hand-over-fist. In fact, many of the men in the audience had arranged to have their companies (or, more typically, just their older outdated factories) nationalized precisely because they were losing money hand over fist. The businessmen got out of the industry at a higher profit than they could otherwise, Vincent Mercator got free patronage to parcel out and a propaganda victory, and the workers got to keep their jobs. While the economy was expanding, it was a win-win all around. Now that it was shrinking, it was lose-lose, except for the government's bureaucrats. Not Contreras's friends in the government, oh no, but the other parasites. He couldn't say that, of course, in the Brave New Mexico. He could say, though, "But is operating these factories the best way for the government to help the Mexican people? The plants are losing money. More efficient producers are being driven out of business. Even the real wages of workers are failing to keep pace with inflation." He took a sip of water. "Might it not be better to sell the factories to owners who will need to make a profit in order to survive? In a level market, only the best firms will survive. But won't some factories close, you ask? Might some workers be thrown on the streets? The first part is true. Some factories will close. But the second is not. Yes, some workers will lose their jobs, but no one need live on the streets. The money the federal government will save from not rewarding failure will come to far more than the wage bill of any workers who may be displaced." He paused again, and looked over the table. "Not that the government should have to cover the bill, not when us fat cats are getting the benefits. That would be un-Mexican. So I propose that the Chamber of Manufacturers establish a fund to provide for the families of any and all displaced workers until they get new jobs at their old wages. Everyone wins. The government saves money. The workers get the chance to exercise their talents where it would do the most good. The economy is strengthened. And we, least importantly, will stop losing money hand over fist. Everyone wins, and that's the Mexican way!" There was a two-second pause, and then the room erupted with applause. There was nothing particularly new in Contreras's ideas. But the only ones to say them had been a few wild-eyed radicals, who'd tied them to irresponsible critiques of the Mercator government before fleeing the country ... or worse. But this was one of Mexico's most respected businessmen. And the ideas were tied to no larger agenda. And they made sense, and fit in with the Progressive idea. "Robert for President!" shouted one of the guests, a Durango canned-food magnate. "You tell 'em, Bob!" said another one, some guy from Mexico del Norte. The only one to be reserved was Fred Buchanan, one of Bob's oldest friends. Bob noticed that, but dismissed it. He's probably just annoyed that he didn't say it first, he thought. Nah, more likely he's bugged by the cost of the sinking fund. That's the kinda guy Fred is. No pedo there. Now that the speech was over, Bob could get back the important part of the evening: getting as drunk as possible with old friends, while trying not to miss his wife, who was shopping in Switzerland. She did that a lot nowadays. With only a twinge of guilt, he briefly thought about Susanna Ek -- who was most definitely not in Switzerland. Should he call her? That decision could wait. He had more mingling to do here. Business might be going down the tubes, but when you thought about it, life wasn't so bad. ---- Forward to FAN #12: Island Life. Forward to 9 July 1971: Corbies. Forward to Contreras family and USM politics: A Day at the Office. Return to For All Nails. Category: Contreras family Category: USM politics